Push & Pull
by Meum Cerebrum Nocet
Summary: To say their relationship was troubled would be an understatement. And yet, they just couldn't seem to say away. Scorose. Adult language.


_**Summary:**_ _To say their relationship was troubled would be an understatement. And yet, they just couldn't seem to say away. Scorose. Adult language._

 _ **A/N:**_ _I don't own any recognizable content. All belongs to its rightful owners._

* * *

 **Push & Pull**

* * *

 _I thought about you for a long time_

 _Can't seem to get you off my mind_

 _I can't understand why we're living life this way_

 _~Picture, Kid Rock feat. Faith Hill_

* * *

It started innocently enough, with a first, fleeting glance across the platform. The steam given off by the train parted for the briefest of moments, and they spotted each other. He, standing with his family and she with hers. From the far distance, they didn't really see anything spectacular about the person across the platform.

Both looked like average first years, nervous eleven-year-olds waiting and wondering what their Hogwarts experience would be like. He clung to his mother's skirts, she to her father's hand. Both anxiously but their lips, stared wondrously at the Hogwarts Express, stared, slightly interestedly at each other.

And then, the steam closed in again, blocking each other from view. As it closed in like a curtain on a stage at the end of a play, though neither would know it for several years, both of their fathers leaned in.

"Keep away from that boy, Rosie. He's a Malfoy, and you can't trust a Malfoy."

"Keep away from that girl, Scorpius. She's a Weasley, and you can't trust a Weasley."

If only the two of them had listened…

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley started dating in their fifth year. They'd been dancing around their feelings for years, making all of their friends crazy. It was one of those situations where everyone around them knew how they felt about each other, expect for Rose and Scorpius.

Then, one day, Albus had enough of the two's obliviousness, and essentially forced the two of them together. It wasn't an ingenious plan or anything. He just came right out one day in the library and announced that both Rose and Scorpius had feelings for each other. After a few surprised and sputtered denials, the two finally conceded and went out on their first date a few weeks later.

And then, a few weeks after that, they had their first fight. It started over something small; Scorpius had blow off a pre-arranged study session with Rose in favour of playing a pick up game of Quidditch with Albus Potter and Geoff Goyle. Things were said in the heat of the moment; Rose accused Scorpius of not caring about her while he accused her of smothering him.

In the grand scheme of things, in the story of a typical relationship, it would have been the smallest, insignificant of fights. But, in the eyes of teenagers, it was catastrophic. It was unforgivable. It was the end of their brief relationship.

For the next few months, the pair couldn't stand to even be around each other. Their mutual friends essentially had to choose sides, spend time with either Rose or Scorpius. They couldn't even be in the library at the same time. This, much like their previous obliviousness quickly got on their friends nerves and the combination of Ravenclaws and Slytherins that considered themselves the friends of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy banded together and forced their stubborn friends into the same room.

This, the two of them forced to sit together in the library for several hours while all of the fifth years worked through their large piles of homework, was what got the pair together for the second time. And this began the saga of make-ups and break ups.

Throughout fifth, sixth, and seventh years, the two of them would be happily together, almost sickly so, for a few weeks at a time. Then something would happen. One of them would do something to upset the other and they would fight and scream and end their relationship. One time, Rose beat Scorpius in Potions class and celebrated a little too much. Another time, Scorpius spent an hour talking to a curvy brunette in the library right in front of Rose. Rose always seemed to be more into schoolwork than her relationship and Scorpius always seemed slightly closed off, like he was keeping something from her and everyone else.

And yet, after a few weeks or a month, the two would miss each other, miss the company and companionship of the other, and they would end up back together again. And the cycle would begin again. That is, until the final few weeks of seventh year. In those few weeks, as both looked to their futures, they decided together that it would probably be best to finally end things between them. That way they could enter the next stage of their lives unencumbered.

So, as they boarded the Hogwarts Express one final time Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy said what they thought would be their final goodbye.

* * *

"I saw you!" the petite blonde was screaming. Her face was tomato red, from a combination of the exertion of yelling and the complete anger behind it. "I saw you with that- that- that slut!" She picked up the nearest object to her clenched fist, a wadded up jumper that had lazily and tiredly been deposited there the night before, and threw it across the room. It collided with its intended target but didn't have the desired affect. Instead of inflicting pain, or even causing the male shock or surprise, it simply hit him in the face and then fell harmlessly to the floor.

Scorpius remained casually leaning against the wall of the large, elegant bedroom. He was a study in contrast to the tiny blonde across the bedroom from him. Where she was red, angry, and slightly sweaty, he was rosy, calm, and cool. She looked frantic, upset, and out-of-control. He was motionless, unemotional, perhaps even a little bored. This seemed to upset the blonde even more.

"It's like you don't even care! You were all over that tramp in the postage-stamp dress; she was basically falling out of it at both ends! You couldn't seem to keep your hands off her! And I was right there! At our table, waiting for you like an idiot while you pawed at that prostitute! And, now that I'm confronting you with it you can't even muster shock or a fucking excuse!" The petite blonde punctuated this sentence by throwing a forgotten high heel shoe. This time, it had the desired effect as Scorpius flinched out of the way, a whispered swear on his lips.

"Well, if you don't give a fuck about me, then I don't give a fuck about any of this any more!" Angrily, the blonde began collecting her few discarded belongings strewn haphazardly around the room. "I hope you have a fucking fantastic life!"

With that one final statement, the blonde stormed out of the room, down the hallway, and out of the flat. She closed the door, slamming it so loudly that the sound reverberated throughout the expansive flat.

'That'll be another 50 galleons to avoid a noise complaint.' Scorpius thought as he tiredly dragged his hands through his hair. Then, with a resigned sigh, he slowly shuffled into the kitchen. Quickly, with the familiarity of a well-practiced hand, Scorpius retrieved his bottle of expensive firewhiskey and poured himself a glass. A quick glance at the clock over the dinning table informed Scorpius that it was only 8:24 in the morning, but he still downed the beverage in one swig.

He repeated the process a few more times, slowly moving through the flat towards his sitting room. On his fifth drink, Scorpius collapsed onto his plush couch and set down the empty glass and nearly empty firewhiskey bottle onto the empty coffee table. If it weren't for the extremely hardworking and tidy house elf in Scorpius' employ, that table would have been littered with empty glasses and alcohol bottles.

Scorpius let his head fall back over the top of the sofa and, as he had at the end of every previous relationship, began to evaluate where his life stood.

In the five years since he had finished Hogwarts, Scorpius had started a very successful law career. He had started as a clerk in his father's law office, slowly learning the rules and intricacies of the legal profession. After only a little over a year, he was given the official title of lawyer by the Wizengamot and allowed to practice law in his own right. From then on, he had quickly developed a reputation as a hardworking, dogged, often victorious lawyer, and he flew up the ranks of his law firm.

Professionally, Scorpius was anything if not successful. Personally, though, Scorpius' life was an absolute mess. It amounted to nothing more than a string of attractive, but ultimately meaningless, women. They ranged from one-night stands to, at most, three month long relationships. He hadn't introduced a single one to his family or even his friends. And when they inevitably ended, it was usually because Scorpius expressed obvious interest in another woman.

He knew he was sabotaging the relationship, something he even did it on purpose, but Scorpius didn't care. He was never upset of the slightest bit emotional as girl after girl angrily stormed away from him. And yet, despite the fact that he knew none of the girls would be the one, Scorpius still continued to date them, one after the other. In his mind, being alone was worse than being in pointless and unfulfilling relationships.

Feeling increasingly depressed at his assessment, Scorpius lifted his head off the back of the couch and poured himself another drink of firewhiskey, emptying the bottle. He quickly downed it then sprawled his long, lean body across the couch.

"Women provide company to ease the sting of loneliness," Scorpius mused aloud into the emptiness of his flat, "and alcohol eases the sting of women." He chuckled at his clever remark and then dug out his wand to accio some more alcohol. From the distance of his front door, a loud, firm knock sounded.

* * *

"Hey, Rosie!" a sing-songy voice called. Seconds later, the sunny face of Rose's perpetually cheerful co-worker appeared around the corner of her office. Rose pushed her chair back from her desk and the stack of papers she'd been working on, and turned to face the door of her office.

"Yes, Crystal? What brings you here today?" Rose, being the editor of the features section of the Daily Prophet, had not been expecting to see Crystal, who was a reporter for the lifestyle section. The two departments were, after all, located in almost opposite corners of the Prophet building.

As Rose asked the question, and saw the sly smile cross Crystal's face, her heart sank. She was almost positive that she knew exactly why Crystal had sought her out that day, and Rose had been hoping to avoid it at all costs.

"I'm here because you haven't responded yet to my invitation. I really need to know. Are you coming to my engagement party on Friday, or not? Shelly needs to know how many goody bags to make!" Crystal then looked expectantly at Rose, waiting on baited breath for the rosette's answer. Rose sighed and looked down.

She'd been hoping to avoid Crystal, and her invitation to her engagement party, until it was too late, significantly passed the given RSVP date. She really didn't want to go, but had already turned down so many similar invitations that she was worried it was starting to raise suspicions. Another turned down invitation to a social gathering celebrating love and romance and couples would almost certainly lead to questions. Questions Rose wholeheartedly did not want to have to answer.

She wasn't fooling herself; she was absolutely clear with why she didn't want to go. But her reasons were not something she wanted to be sharing with the wider world.

"Well, Crystal. You see," Rose sputtered, looking anywhere but at the other woman, "I'm still not really sure about my schedule for Friday. There are a lot of major stories coming in late Thursday and I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get through them. And they'll need to be done before Sunday when that week's edition goes out." It was a flimsy excuse; at most she has two stories coming in and she'd have more than enough time to edit them and go to the party. But the rosette hoped that Crystal wouldn't be aware of that fact and would believe her excuse.

Crystal's face fell slightly, which Rose took as a good sign. Disappointment meant her lie had been believed!

"Well, I'll just tell Shelly to make you a gift bag and hopefully you'll be able to stop by. Even if it's just for half an hour!" the smile returned to Crystal's face in the blink of an eye. Once again cheerful, the girl turned on her heel and sashayed out of Rose's office.

The rosette waited for a few seconds before she turned and collapsed onto her neat desk. It looked like there was no getting out of the party now. She would have to go, have to pretend that the joy, and love, and merriment that would fill the party space was not simultaneously driving a knife into her heart and making her feel physically ill.

It hadn't always been that way. At one point, Rose would have considered herself a hopeless romantic. But then she'd gone through the tumultuous relationship with Scorpius. On the other side of that, and alone ever since, anything to do with love or romance just didn't sit well with Rose.

Since agreeing to end things with Scorpius at the end of seventh year, Rose hadn't even gone out for drinks or coffee with a potential romantic partner. At first, she'd been getting over Scorpius and the emotional upheaval their relationship had caused. Then, she'd gotten busy with work; she was a hot young reporter, hardworking and relentless. Her efforts awarded her story after story, but left her with little time for much else.

Before she knew it, five years had passed. And now, Rose was still alone, still abhorred romance. And it was all because of Scorpius. Despite not seeing or even speaking to the blond for half a decade, she still couldn't help but think about him, to pine after him. Time had passed, and the bad memories, the worst parts of their relationship, had faded, leaving Rose with only the good. That combined with the fact that she hadn't dated anyone besides Scorpius, leaving her with no comparisons for their relationship, had left her with a confusing image of relationships.

But, some part of Rose knew she shouldn't be with Scorpius, and that knowledge, that she couldn't be with the person she loved, turned all other love bitter and heartbreaking. No, she was not looking forward to the onslaught of bitter and heartbreaking that the engagement party would bring.

* * *

Scorpius sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. There were dark bags under his eyes, his hair hung limp and lifeless around his hallow face, and his nose and cheeks seemed to be reddening. If he had his say, he'd much rather go out to a darkened bar and chat up some pretty girl, but he'd already agreed to go to the party with Albus.

The dark haired male had knocked on his door a few days prior, on the same day his last relationship had ended. When Scorpius had opened the door, Albus Potter had informed the drunken male that a friend of theirs from school, a chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, was getting married and they'd been invited to an engagement party. In Scorpius' alcohol-addled state, he had thought that sounded like a good idea and readily agreed to go.

Now, looking at his poor state in the mirror, he wasn't quite as enthusiastic. This would be frowned upon and that was really all that the blond wanted to do at that point. He'd been feeling absolutely miserable for months –well, years really but it had been harder to repress in the last couple months, and alcohol was the only thing that made it bearable.

But, he'd told Albus he would be there and letting down the Potter was not something he wanted to do. So, a little reluctantly, Scorpius left his flat and headed to a small hole-in-the-wall pub. It was one of the only magical pubs or bars in muggle London and very popular, so the fact that the couple had been able to rent it out for a private function was quite something.

Scorpius walked through the door and made a beeline for the bar, even before he'd said help to the happy couple hosting the party. He would need at least one drink in his system before he did that.

"Double firewhiskey on the rocks. Whatever your best is." Scorpius told the slightly harried looking bartender. The young, tattooed male nodded and then turned to the shelves of alcohol behind him. As Scorpius waited, he turned to survey the rest of the room.

He froze.

Standing in the middle of the room, apart from everyone else, was the absolute last person he expected to see.

Rose Weasley.

She looked just as stunning as he remembered, with her dancing, curious brown eyes and shimmering auburn hair. He'd always felt a strange pull towards her, from the first moment he saw her to that very moment. She was the reason that his personal life was such a mess. He compared every girl to her and every single one of them came up short. And yet, he kept searching for someone to replace her, to fill the void she had left in his life.

Forgetting his drink, Scorpius walked across the room, directly to Rose. At first, the rosette didn't notice him, but when she did, her eyes widened. A smile quickly flashed across her face before she controlled her expression and put on a neutral face.

"Hello, Rose. Long time no see. How have you been?" he spoke, his voice coming out husky with desire.

"That it has," Rose responded, coyly. And, just like that, the cycle began again. But this time, maybe, hopefully, it would finally work out.

- _The End-_


End file.
